In this specification, the term “medicament” encompasses drugs and any and all other materials dispensed subject to presentation of a prescription. The traditional means of dispensing prescribed medicaments involves a doctor meeting with a patient and prescribing a medicament based on a particular diagnosis, and then hand writing and signing a prescription for the patient to carry to a pharmacist at a pharmacy location for fulfillment. In recent years, two major advancements have occurred in the field of medicament dispensing. The first is the advent of electronic prescription capturing methods, systems and apparatus, which improve the overall accuracy and patient record-keeping associated with prescribing drugs. The second is the advent of automated apparatus, typically configured as kiosks, from which medicaments can be automatically dispensed, the kiosks being located for convenient patient access, such as at a doctor's premises, a hospital or mall, and being networked with a system server for inventory control and management. In this regard, reference may be made to applicant's co-pending PCT application Ser. No. PCT/CA2007/001220 related to a method, system and apparatus for dispensing drugs.
More specifically, the PCT application describes a networked system having a server, a database of patient information linked to the server, a first client having input means linked to the server and operable to generate a script for a medicament prescribed to a user, a second client comprising an automated apparatus for dispensing medicaments (referred to in said PCT application as a robotic prescription dispensary) operable to recognize a human and/or machine readable description in the script, and to provide validating cross-referencing between the description and patient information as a prelude to dispensing a drug to the user on the basis of the input script. A doctor in a clinic can be a third client having input means linked to the server to input appropriate prescription information, or accept certain prescription information from the database as being applicable in the particular case for a particular patient. Further, the doctor's client device can be operable to display patient information, e.g., drug history, insurance coverage, etc., and a printer module can print the script as a paper print-out.
The server and database enable storing, compiling and retrieval of patient data including name, address, and diagnostic and drug history. Access to the database can be provided to both the doctor and the automated apparatus for dispensing medicaments via the server, via a secure connection, or via a link between the system and a clinic's existing clinic management system or patient database.
The described apparatus also includes a user interface, a teleconferencing or video-conferencing means enabling communication between the user and a human validation agent, and a scanning means for capturing an image of the script so that it, if needed, it can be viewed by a human validation agent, such as a licensed pharmacist communicating in the system and with the apparatus from a remote location to the apparatus, to approve a prescription. The user interface of the dispensary apparatus provides detailed and clear instructions to guide the user.
An authentication means confirms the identity of the patient, for example, by prompting for a personal identification number or by biometric means or by associating certain questions to answers provided by the patient that identify the patient to the apparatus, and cross-referencing this information with the patient information stored on the networked database. Once the patient is recognized, the dispensary apparatus prompts the user for a script and the apparatus processes the user-input script either by the above-mentioned human validation agent or by processing the machine readable description (which may be a bar code). This information can be verified with the server and the database. The apparatus may also interface with the server to adjudicate insurance claims and to determine amounts payable by patients. The patient either accepts or rejects the transaction. If the transaction is accepted, the apparatus interfaces with the server to transact a payment, for example, by prompting the patient for credit card information. Prescription labels and receipts are printed. The apparatus confirms that the drug is correct and delivers it to a dispensing area for retrieval by the user while retaining the script in a lock box, and verifying that the purchased drug product has been retrieved. Further, the apparatus may print and/or provide to the user educational materials relevant to the medicaments that have been dispensed. The automated dispensing apparatus for is of significant value in enabling a patient to obtain prescribed medicaments without having to attend a pharmacy or drug store.
In known medicament dispensary kiosks for dispensing bottles or packages of drugs or other medicament packages, the packages are typically stacked in a row column rack of bins. To pick a package from a bin, a pick head is driven in X and Y directions to a desired XY position corresponding to the selected bin. A platform forming part of the pick head is then moved in the Z direction to pick the package from the selected bin.
Medicament packages may have a range of shapes and sizes depending on the size of the medicament to be dispensed and depending also on the particular packaging practices of the medicament supplier. Because space is at a premium in such a kiosk, ideally a bin size for a particular medicament package closely matches the size of package. Because the distribution of package sizes will normally vary from kiosk to kiosk, the bin racks would ideally be tailored for the particular kiosks in which they are to be installed.